A report by the Saudi arm of a global law firm on Saudi Arabia’s 2034 Fifa World Cup bid has “whitewashed” the Gulf kingdom’s record of exploiting and suppressing the rights of migrant workers, rights groups have claimed.

AS&H Clifford Chance was commissioned to independently assess the human rights implications of the bid, but the report “contains no substantive discussion of extensive and relevant abuses in Saudi Arabia”, according to a statement released by 11 organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation, which commissioned the report, has submitted it to Fifa as part of its bid to host the tournament.

As the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia is almost certain to be named the host by Fifa later this year...

Fifa said it was implementing a “thorough bidding process” for the 2034 World Cup and would publish an evaluation report on the bid ahead of a meeting of the Fifa Congress on 11 December.

AS&H Clifford Chance and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation did not respond to a request for comment.